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Anti-coup protesters give a three-finger salute during a lightning demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar on June 3, 2021. REUTERS / Stringer reuters_tickers This content was posted on June 8, 2021 – 8:08 AM June 8, 2021 – 08:08
(Reuters) – The Burmese junta’s foreign minister defended his plan to restore democracy, state media reported on Tuesday, after a meeting in which Southeast Asian counterparts pressed the army to implement a regional agreement to end the unrest.
The junta has paid little heed to requests from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to respect a “consensus” reached at the end of April to end the violence and hold political talks with its opponents.
Southeast Asian foreign ministers expressed disappointment at the meeting in China on Monday at Myanmar’s “very slow” progress on its proposal to end the unrest since the military overthrew the country. elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1.
State media quoted junta-appointed Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin as saying at the ASEAN-China foreign ministers meeting that the military has made progress on its own sheet. five-stage road to the country unveiled after its coup.
“The minister informed the meeting that the only way to ensure a disciplined and genuine democratic system was the future five-point program which was declared in February,” the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
The minister said most of these points had been met, including preventive measures against COVID-19 and the establishment of a new electoral commission to look into alleged frauds in the party-swept November election. of Suu Kyi, according to the newspaper.
The military defended its seizure of power after a decade of attempts at democracy, saying the former election commission ignored its complaints of fraud.
The junta has failed to impose control since the ouster of Suu Kyi, one of more than 4,500 people detained since the coup.
Security forces killed at least 849 protesters, according to a rights group, although the military disputes the figure, and insurgencies in several areas have erupted.
Alarmed by the unrest, several ASEAN members called for the release of political detainees, an end to the violence and talks by Myanmar’s rivals to end the crisis – calls reflected in the “consensus” from ASEAN.
But in the sole reference to the ASEAN proposal, the Burmese minister was quoted as saying that “discussions have been cordially held” on the matter during a visit last week by two ASEAN envoys – who also called for the release of political prisoners.
Opponents of the junta have shown growing frustration with ASEAN’s inability to pressure the junta and its failure to include other political actors, especially the ousted government. The junta called its opponents “terrorists”.
Chinese state newspaper Global Times quoted junta leader Min Aung Hlaing as telling the Chinese ambassador that Myanmar was willing to coordinate the implementation of the consensus.
After Monday’s meeting, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Chinese aid would be “greatly appreciated as it will help achieve a peaceful solution.”
A shadow government formed by opponents of the coup has criticized the Chinese embassy in Myanmar for calling the junta leader “Myanmar” in a post on its website. (This story is passed on to add a deleted word in paragraph 3 and corrects the syntax)
(Reuters staff report; written by Ed Davies; edited by Robert Birsel)
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